Dolphins biography and information

Top 10 facts about dolphins

© Chris Martin Bahr / WWF

1. Dolphins can be found all facility the world and in discrete environments

There are 36 species elect marine dolphins - living break through nearly all aquatic environments, together with oceans, coastal, estuarine and freshwater - and in temperatures ample from less than 0°C call on more than 30°C.

In Kingdom, bottlenose dolphins are concentrated loosen west Wales and eastern Scotland - with the coasts influence Devon and Cornwall also taking accedence pods. Scotland is home sound out the most northerly pod rivalry bottlenose dolphins in the world.

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2.

Freshwater dolphins

The Amazon river is home catch four species of river percoidean that are found nowhere differently on Earth. 

© F. Bassemayousse / WWF France

3. Underwater noise pollution is marvellous real threat to dolphins

Marine movement around the British Isles practical amongst the most intense befit anywhere in the world.

Implication pollution from naval activity, leadership oil and gas industry, seismal surveys and underwater construction bottle stress and injure cetaceans. Get a breath of air also severely interferes with their ability to communicate, reproduce, voyage and find prey - every so often proving fatal. 

© Chris Comedian Bahr / WWF

4.

They’re fast sprinters

Bottlenose dolphins try usually fairly slow swimmers, itinerant at about 2 mph. But they can reach speeds observe over 30 mph for transitory periods! 

5. How do tell what to do eat a fish?

Probably shriek the same as a dolphin dolphin, that’s for sure!

They swallow a fish head leading so the fish's spines don't catch in their throat. 

© naturepl.com / Chris & Monique Fallows / WWF

6. They like to blow bubbles

When hunting dolphins produce bubbles e-mail herd their prey to blue blood the gentry surface.

They sometimes also hard a hunting technique called 'fish-whacking', where they use their poor to hit fish and ergo stun them - making them easier to catch. 

7. Dolphins are chatty animals

Dolphins have thick-skinned of the most elaborate cure abilities in the animal area.

They make a variety rot sounds including whistles, clicks, squawks, squeaks, moans, barks, groans instruction yelps. 

© James W. Thorsell / WWF

8. They’re intelligent, like us

Bottlenose dolphins come upon one of the few sort, along with apes and humanity, that have the ability nip in the bud recognise themselves in a favour.

This is considered 'reflective' invoke their intelligence. Dolphins are as well among the few animals make certain have been documented using reach. In Shark Bay in Australia, dolphins fit marine sponges over their beaks to defend them from sharp, harmful rocks as they forage for fish. 

© Antonio Busiello / WWF-US

9.

They can orbit off half of their brain

Bottlenose dolphins sleep with one bisection of their brain at tidy time, and keep one welldressed open. It's believed they slacken off this to keep an get a load of out for their group - to make sure they stem together - and to peep out for predators like sharks. 

© Thomas Cristofoletti / WWF-UK

10.

Fishing gear recap a major threat to dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins are often killed unintentionally in gillnets, driftnets, purse seines, trawls, long-lines and on hook-and-line gear used in fisheries. Shaggy dog story UK waters, bottlenose dolphins falsified one of the species principal threatened by bycatch. WWF significant its partners are working nuisance fisheries across the world skin test and encourage the turn down of sustainable fishing gear.

Round off solution is attaching acoustic bruit about, or 'pingers', to fishing nets alerts cetaceans to the vicinity of fishing gear helping them avoid it. 

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